Fundación Paraguaya is a Paraguaryan

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

. Founded in 1985, it seeks to develop solutions to poverty and unemployment, and proactively disseminate them throughout the world.

History

Fundación Paraguaya was founded by Martin Burt in 1985, during the

Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan politician, army general and military dictator who ruled as the 42nd president of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow in 1989. Known there as '' ...

dictatorship. They were the first microfinance institution in Paraguay, as well as a founding member of the Acción International microfinance network. They later adapted the

Junior Achievement JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide is a global non-profit youth organization. It was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and Winthrop M. Crane. JA works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential ...

program's methodologies to serve underprivileged youth and teach them financial literacy. In 2003, the foundation took over a bankrupt boys' agricultural school, turning it into a financially self-sufficient school providing coed agricultural education. In 2009, they added a girls' school, and two more schools joined the educational model by 2011. They have committed to replicate the model in 50 schools globally.

Recognition

Fundación Paraguaya has received a number of awards, grants, and distinctions, including the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2018, the organization was awards the Juscelino Kubitschek Visionaries Award by the Inter American Development Bank.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fundacion Paraguaya Foundations based in Paraguay Microfinance organizations Educational foundations